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Why do most people in Edmonton own a car ?

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
I feel like I am in the minority in the city because I don't drive or own a car.

I don't know Edmonton, is public transport any good? Is it difficult to get to one or another on public transport? Is is spread out with a fair distance between various centres? Are the roads good? There are a few reasons why people use cars.

Personally we are 20+km from the nearest town, with no public transport, we'd be isolated without a car. Everyone in the local area has a car or two.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
I don't know Edmonton, is public transport any good? Is it difficult to get to one or another on public transport? Is is spread out with a fair distance between various centres? Are the roads good? There are a few reasons why people use cars.

Personally we are 20+km from the nearest town, with no public transport, we'd be isolated without a car. Everyone in the local area has a car or two.
I grew up that way. It was great. Our driveway was half a mile long and we were 10 km from the nearest town. Sometimes one has to own a car even if it is not to chase after hot chicks.


Hmm, Edmonton is a good sized city, it is approaching one million in population and seems to have a decent bus system. Looking at their map what stood out to me is that aspects of Canada are permanently mired in the Imperial system of measurements.
 

Eddi

Pantheist Christian
Premium Member
I feel like I am in the minority in the city because I don't drive or own a car.
I don't either

Doesn't bother me

Buses, trains, and taxis and ubers are fine for me

Car ownership is way beyond my means and I find driving to be scary and terrible and beyond my capacities
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Being in a minority is not just ok, but also unavoidable. It is no good to either be in the majority in most respects. It is no good either to have that as a goal.

About owning a car specifically, that is a bit of a holdout from certain urban mythologies from decades past. It used to appear reasonable to expect "everyone" to have their own cars, but most cities are not really built and planned to actually deal with that. Owning a car creates a significant toll on cities; demands for parking space, residential garages, security to go with both, and the traffict itself. That is not really sustainable.

On the other hand, hardly any cities have decent public transportation or the political will to create it.

In broad strokes, I expect the next couple decades or so to see an ever stronger reliance on ride-hailing services, and perhaps some lucidity in public transport planning starting in the 2070s or so. People resist change fiercely, and most of all change in their fantasies of what prosperity would be like.
 
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